Wall Street Journal Threatened By NoW Hacking Probe

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It took a while but the USA is waking up to the fact that the News International hacking scandal afflicting its UK estate may also be present in its American titles. The backlash against the Murdoch empire is gathering pace as US senator Jay Rockefeller weighs in. The BBC reported today that the chairman of the US Senate Commerce Committee has called on the “appropriate authorities” to investigate whether any American citizens have had their privacy violated.

“The reported hacking by News Corporation newspapers against a range of individuals – including children – is offensive and a serious breach of journalistic ethics. This raises serious questions about whether the company has broken US law,” he said.

With the UK parliament now likely to debate a non-partisan resolution calling on News International to withdraw from its bid for British Sky Broadcasting, the scandal is far from disappearing – in fact, it is escalating. Former spin-doctor for UK prime minister Blair – Alistair Campbell – has remarked publicly and loudly about how Murdoch has mis-read the situation and that his usual tactic of “flying in” to resolve an issue in a flurry of publicity is actually making matters worse. With determined Murdoch lackies like incumbent PM David Cameron now going decidedly off-message, it is looking increasingly dodgy for the Dirty Digger.